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Eglinton Avenue

Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the western limits of Mississauga, as a continuation of Lower Baseline in Milton. It traverses the midsection of both cities and ends at Kingston Road. Eglinton Avenue is the only street to cross all six former boroughs of Metropolitan Toronto.

The Toronto section was surveyed in the 19th century as the Fourth Concession Road (with the first being Queen Street). It was historically known as Richview Sideroad in Etobicoke and Lower Baseline in Mississauga. It was also designated Highway 5A (and later Highway 109) in Scarborough.

History edit

There are two sources for the naming of Eglinton Avenue. Henry Scadding in an early history of the city wrote that it originated from Eglinton Castle in Scotland, itself named for the Earls of Eglinton. Several early settlers, impressed by the Eglinton Tournament of 1839 hosted by the 13th Earl, named the hamlet developing in the area as the Village of Eglinton after the Earl. More likely is the humbler story that it was named by the tavern keeper John Montgomery who settled in the area in 1830 and named the village after the Earl of Eglinton of the Montgomerie family, to whom he believed he had a family connection.[1]

The wagon trail connecting to Yonge between the third and fifth concessions (St. Clair and Lawrence Avenues respectively) soon adopted the name of the village and was gradually improved over the years near Yonge Street. In 1890, the area was incorporated as North Toronto, and in 1912, it was annexed to Toronto itself. In 1953, Metropolitan Toronto (commonly known as Metro) was formed. Seeking to build new connections to the rapidly developing suburbs, Metro widened and interconnected Eglinton to its current form through the decade.

 
Construction of Eglinton across the Don Valley gap in 1956, as seen from east of Brentcliffe Rd.

The eastern segment through Scarborough was known as Highway 5A between 1937 and 1953; this number also appeared on St. Clair Avenue West until 1952 when the Toronto Bypass, (the precursor to Highway 401), opened between Weston and Highway 11 (Yonge Street). The two pieces of "Highway 5A" were never connected. In 1953, what remained was renumbered as Highway 109; a year later, the road was removed from the provincial highway system. Because of its time as a provincial highway, the road through Scarborough was widened considerably. A right of way was also acquired to bridge the gap in Eglinton. Until the mid-1950s, Eglinton did not cross either of the valleys of the Don River. The road ended at Brentcliffe Road (unassigned path beyond Laird towards Brentcliffe and the dump was once site of hangar for Leaside Aerodrome) and resumed at Victoria Park Avenue (then known as Dawes Road). This break resulted in a bypassed eastern stub at Bermondsey Road signed as Old Eglinton Avenue. The Department of Highways relinquished control of Highway 109 to the newly formed Metro government. Metro built the new section of Eglinton Avenue, first between Dawes Road and Don Mills Road in 1955, and later between Don Mills Road and Leaside in 1956.[2]

In the west, the street ended at the Humber River until 1970. On the opposite side in Etobicoke, the Richview Sideroad followed the same alignment as far as the Metro Toronto–Peel boundary. That year, the river was bridged to connect the Richview Sideroad segment as an extension of Eglinton. At about the same time, when the Highways 401 and 427 interchange was reconstructed, the street was connected to Lower Base Line, extending the street even further west into Mississauga. West of Mississauga, in the Regional Municipality of Halton, it is a rural road and is still named Lower Base Line (the corresponding Upper Base Line being present-day Steeles Avenue).[3]

The structure over the GO rail line and East Don River is known as the Harvey C. Rose Bridge, and honours the chief engineer of the Toronto and York Roads Commission, later the Metropolitan Toronto Commission of Roads.[4]

Richview Expressway proposal edit

In 1943, city planner Norman Wilson indicated the possible future need for a new urban highway to connect Eglinton Avenue with the Richview Sideroad. These plans would mature into the Richview Expressway with the formation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1954. Part of the requirements for the Richview Expressway was a staged construction of a parallel arterial road. This was approved in 1963, and construction began on Eglinton Avenue from west of Weston Road to Royal York Road. With its completion in 1970, the four-lane Richview Sideroad was renamed Eglinton Avenue West.[5]

In Toronto, the right-of-way to construct the Richview Expressway remains but the project has never come to fruition, save for high-speed ramps from Eglinton to Highways 401 and 427 at the complicated interchange near Renforth station. Local opposition has made the proposed expressway unlikely, though the land remains owned by the city.

Route description edit

 
Eglinton Avenue East in Scarborough

Eglinton Avenue runs through a number of neighbourhoods and is residential, for the most part, though it becomes a major commercial area from Allen Road to Don Mills Road. The Eglinton West or "Little Jamaica" area, which stretches from Marlee Avenue / Winona Drive to Keele Street, is home to a number of Caribbean and West Indian stores.

Eglinton Avenue is one of the few east–west routes north of Bloor Street that cross Toronto uninterrupted in a more or less straight line across the city. Eglinton was also the only street to cross all six of the municipalities that eventually amalgamated to form Metro Toronto: East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Toronto, and York. The section between the Etobicoke Creek and Renforth Drive forms part of the city limits of Toronto and Mississauga.

Sites along Eglinton edit

 
Eglinton Avenue on a rainy day, with Canada Square and the Yonge Eglinton Centre
 
Eglinton Avenue West in Erin Mills, Mississauga

There are many notable sites and landmarks along Eglinton Avenue; they include the Erin Mills Town Centre, Centennial Park, Little Jamaica, the Eglinton Flats sports park,[6] Eglinton Park,[7] Yonge Eglinton Centre, the Canada Square Complex, Sunnybrook Park, the TVO Headquarters, the Ontario Science Centre, the Eglinton Square Shopping Centre, The Golden Mile, and Toronto East Detention Centre.

Public transit edit

 
An Eglinton West roadside marker

Bus edit

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates bus routes 32 Eglinton West (between Eglinton subway station to Renforth MiWay Terminal), 34 Eglinton East (between Eglinton and Kennedy station), 51 Leslie, 54 Lawrence East and 56 Leaside (between Eglinton to Leslie Street). East of Kennedy station, routes 86 Scarborough, 116 Morningside, 905 Eglinton East Express and 986 Scarborough Express provide regular all-day service (until 2014, 34 Eglinton East provided service east of Kennedy station). Overnight service is provided by 332 Eglinton West Blue Night (between Eglinton Station and Pearson airport), 334 Eglinton East Blue Night (between Eglinton Station and Finch and Neilson).

In Mississauga, MiWay route 35 Eglinton serves almost the entire length of the street within that city, 34 Credit Valley serves the section west of Hurontario Street, and 7 Airport serves the section east of Hurontario; also sections of the road are served by routes 17 Timberlea, 89 Meadowvale-Skymark and 109 Meadowvale Express during peak hours.

Rapid transit edit

Current services edit

Eglinton West (at Allen Road), Eglinton (at Yonge Street), and Kennedy (at the eastern terminus of Line 2 Bloor–Danforth) stations of the Toronto subway system are located on Eglinton, where the respective lines cross it.

In Mississauga, a portion of the Mississauga Transitway, a grade-separated bus rapid transit line, follows Eglinton Avenue stopping at: Etobicoke Creek, Spectrum, Orbitor and Renforth. All of these stations are located at the Airport Corporate Centre at the east end of Mississauga, just south of Toronto Pearson International Airport. Renforth Station is a terminal hub for TTC, GO Transit, and MiWay buses; meanwhile, the other three are exclusively served by MiWay.

Past projects and proposals edit

The provincial government of Bob Rae started work on the Eglinton West line of the Toronto subway in 1994 as a way of appeasing politicians in Etobicoke and York who demanded rapid transit expansion in their constituencies after the city of North York successfully lobbied for the Sheppard line. The underground subway line was approved despite the official transit plan only recommended a bus rapid transit line for the road in the near future. The Eglinton line was abandoned by Rae's successor Mike Harris after construction had started at Eglinton West station and underground excavation was filled in.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT was unveiled as part of the TTC's Transit City light rail expansion program in 2007, which proposed an underground line to run from Jane Street to Laird Drive, with above ground sections running to Pearson International Airport in the west and to Kennedy station in Scarborough in the east. The provincial government's MoveOntario 2020 capital funding announcement in June 2007 funded the line.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford announced the cancellation of Transit City on the day that he took office.[8] The redesigned Eglinton–Scarborough Crosstown line along with a Line 4 Sheppard extension was announced four months later, with the support of Metrolinx and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.[9]

The redesign put the 19 kilometres (12 mi) Eglinton portion completely underground, integrated the Line 3 Scarborough portion (which has since been decommissioned due to age and the unavailability of new rolling stock), and would run contiguously from Black Creek Drive in the west to McCowan Road in the east. The redesign has since been shelved with construction plans reverting to the original design.

Future edit

Once the first phase of Line 5 Eglinton is completed by Metrolinx in 2024, the existing bus lanes on Eglinton between Black Creek Drive and Kennedy Road will be significantly reduced, providing an opportunity to redesign the street. In 2014, the municipal government of Toronto released a report proposing a redesign of the street to provide generally a four lane roadway over the underground LRT, with a three lanes (two traffic and centre turning lane) between Avenue Road and Mount Pleasant Road. The variation in number of lanes is based on lower car traffic volumes near Yonge Street. The redesign would also provide wider sidewalks and a continuous raised bicycle lane that would be the longest bike lane in the city. The initial implementation of the redesign would be carried out with the reconstruction at Crosstown line station locations that would be funded as part of the Crosstown line project. Reconstruction between stations will be funded by the city and is proposed to be carried out after completion of the Crosstown line so that this does not interfere with the Metrolinx construction activity.[10][11] A planning process called Eglinton Connects drew on public consultation to evaluate options for the redesign.[12]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ F. R. Berchem. Opportunity Road: Yonge Street 1860-1939 Dundurn, 1996. pg. 91
  2. ^ "Over 200,000,000 Added to Assessment Rolls in 55' Realtors Told". Toronto Star. February 5, 1955. p. 12.
  3. ^ "Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 7 Dec 1966, p. 11".
  4. ^ Annual Report, Department of Highways. 1956.
  5. ^ Clark, M. "Historical Development". Review of the Richview Expressway. Metropolitan Toronto Transportation Plan Review. p. 10.
  6. ^ "Parks, Forestry and Recreation : Eglinton Flats". Toronto. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Parks, Forestry and Recreation : Eglinton Park". Toronto. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. ^ Mayor Rob Ford: “Transit City is over” 2013-01-19 at the Wayback Machine Toronto Life December 1, 2010
  9. ^ Alcoba, Natalie (31 March 2011). "Funding questions linger after new transit plan announced". National Post. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  10. ^ Eglinton Connects – Environmental Assessment Study (PDF), City of Toronto, 25 March 2014, retrieved 1 July 2015
  11. ^ "Eglinton LRT plan calls for $150 million in streetscaping" (PDF). Toronto Star. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  12. ^ "The Basics". City of Toronto. Retrieved 1 July 2015.

eglinton, avenue, highway, central, ontario, that, originally, followed, between, 1958, 1964, ontario, highway, major, east, west, arterial, thoroughfare, toronto, mississauga, canadian, province, ontario, street, begins, highway, does, interchange, with, toll. For the highway in Central Ontario that originally followed Eglinton Avenue between 1958 and 1964 see Ontario Highway 121 Eglinton Avenue is a major east west arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario The street begins at Highway 407 but does not interchange with the tollway at the western limits of Mississauga as a continuation of Lower Baseline in Milton It traverses the midsection of both cities and ends at Kingston Road Eglinton Avenue is the only street to cross all six former boroughs of Metropolitan Toronto Eglinton AvenueEglinton Avenue within TorontoMaintained byCity of TorontoCity of MississaugaLocationToronto MississaugaWest end 407 ETR No interchange Continues as Lower Base Line MajorjunctionsNinth LineWinston Churchill Boulevard Erin Mills ParkwayMavis RoadHurontario Street Highway 403 Dixie Road Highway 401Kipling AvenueIslington AvenueJane StreetBlack Creek DriveKeele StreetDufferin Street Allen RoadBathurst StreetAvenue RoadYonge StreetBayview AvenueLeslie StreetDon Mills Road Don Valley ParkwayVictoria Park AvenueWarden AvenueKennedy RoadMarkham RoadEast endKingston RoadNearby arterial roads Highway 403 Burnhamthorpe Road St Clair Avenue Eglinton Avenue Britannia Road Lawrence Avenue The Toronto section was surveyed in the 19th century as the Fourth Concession Road with the first being Queen Street It was historically known as Richview Sideroad in Etobicoke and Lower Baseline in Mississauga It was also designated Highway 5A and later Highway 109 in Scarborough Contents 1 History 1 1 Richview Expressway proposal 2 Route description 2 1 Sites along Eglinton 3 Public transit 3 1 Bus 3 2 Rapid transit 3 2 1 Current services 3 2 2 Past projects and proposals 3 2 3 Future 4 See also 5 ReferencesHistory editThere are two sources for the naming of Eglinton Avenue Henry Scadding in an early history of the city wrote that it originated from Eglinton Castle in Scotland itself named for the Earls of Eglinton Several early settlers impressed by the Eglinton Tournament of 1839 hosted by the 13th Earl named the hamlet developing in the area as the Village of Eglinton after the Earl More likely is the humbler story that it was named by the tavern keeper John Montgomery who settled in the area in 1830 and named the village after the Earl of Eglinton of the Montgomerie family to whom he believed he had a family connection 1 The wagon trail connecting to Yonge between the third and fifth concessions St Clair and Lawrence Avenues respectively soon adopted the name of the village and was gradually improved over the years near Yonge Street In 1890 the area was incorporated as North Toronto and in 1912 it was annexed to Toronto itself In 1953 Metropolitan Toronto commonly known as Metro was formed Seeking to build new connections to the rapidly developing suburbs Metro widened and interconnected Eglinton to its current form through the decade nbsp Construction of Eglinton across the Don Valley gap in 1956 as seen from east of Brentcliffe Rd The eastern segment through Scarborough was known as Highway 5A between 1937 and 1953 this number also appeared on St Clair Avenue West until 1952 when the Toronto Bypass the precursor to Highway 401 opened between Weston and Highway 11 Yonge Street The two pieces of Highway 5A were never connected In 1953 what remained was renumbered as Highway 109 a year later the road was removed from the provincial highway system Because of its time as a provincial highway the road through Scarborough was widened considerably A right of way was also acquired to bridge the gap in Eglinton Until the mid 1950s Eglinton did not cross either of the valleys of the Don River The road ended at Brentcliffe Road unassigned path beyond Laird towards Brentcliffe and the dump was once site of hangar for Leaside Aerodrome and resumed at Victoria Park Avenue then known as Dawes Road This break resulted in a bypassed eastern stub at Bermondsey Road signed as Old Eglinton Avenue The Department of Highways relinquished control of Highway 109 to the newly formed Metro government Metro built the new section of Eglinton Avenue first between Dawes Road and Don Mills Road in 1955 and later between Don Mills Road and Leaside in 1956 2 In the west the street ended at the Humber River until 1970 On the opposite side in Etobicoke the Richview Sideroad followed the same alignment as far as the Metro Toronto Peel boundary That year the river was bridged to connect the Richview Sideroad segment as an extension of Eglinton At about the same time when the Highways 401 and 427 interchange was reconstructed the street was connected to Lower Base Line extending the street even further west into Mississauga West of Mississauga in the Regional Municipality of Halton it is a rural road and is still named Lower Base Line the corresponding Upper Base Line being present day Steeles Avenue 3 The structure over the GO rail line and East Don River is known as the Harvey C Rose Bridge and honours the chief engineer of the Toronto and York Roads Commission later the Metropolitan Toronto Commission of Roads 4 Richview Expressway proposal edit Main article Cancelled expressways in Toronto In 1943 city planner Norman Wilson indicated the possible future need for a new urban highway to connect Eglinton Avenue with the Richview Sideroad These plans would mature into the Richview Expressway with the formation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1954 Part of the requirements for the Richview Expressway was a staged construction of a parallel arterial road This was approved in 1963 and construction began on Eglinton Avenue from west of Weston Road to Royal York Road With its completion in 1970 the four lane Richview Sideroad was renamed Eglinton Avenue West 5 In Toronto the right of way to construct the Richview Expressway remains but the project has never come to fruition save for high speed ramps from Eglinton to Highways 401 and 427 at the complicated interchange near Renforth station Local opposition has made the proposed expressway unlikely though the land remains owned by the city Route description edit nbsp Eglinton Avenue East in ScarboroughEglinton Avenue runs through a number of neighbourhoods and is residential for the most part though it becomes a major commercial area from Allen Road to Don Mills Road The Eglinton West or Little Jamaica area which stretches from Marlee Avenue Winona Drive to Keele Street is home to a number of Caribbean and West Indian stores Eglinton Avenue is one of the few east west routes north of Bloor Street that cross Toronto uninterrupted in a more or less straight line across the city Eglinton was also the only street to cross all six of the municipalities that eventually amalgamated to form Metro Toronto East York Etobicoke North York Scarborough Toronto and York The section between the Etobicoke Creek and Renforth Drive forms part of the city limits of Toronto and Mississauga Sites along Eglinton edit nbsp Eglinton Avenue on a rainy day with Canada Square and the Yonge Eglinton Centre nbsp Eglinton Avenue West in Erin Mills MississaugaThere are many notable sites and landmarks along Eglinton Avenue they include the Erin Mills Town Centre Centennial Park Little Jamaica the Eglinton Flats sports park 6 Eglinton Park 7 Yonge Eglinton Centre the Canada Square Complex Sunnybrook Park the TVO Headquarters the Ontario Science Centre the Eglinton Square Shopping Centre The Golden Mile and Toronto East Detention Centre Public transit edit nbsp An Eglinton West roadside markerBus edit The Toronto Transit Commission TTC operates bus routes 32 Eglinton West between Eglinton subway station to Renforth MiWay Terminal 34 Eglinton East between Eglinton and Kennedy station 51 Leslie 54 Lawrence East and 56 Leaside between Eglinton to Leslie Street East of Kennedy station routes 86 Scarborough 116 Morningside 905 Eglinton East Express and 986 Scarborough Express provide regular all day service until 2014 34 Eglinton East provided service east of Kennedy station Overnight service is provided by 332 Eglinton West Blue Night between Eglinton Station and Pearson airport 334 Eglinton East Blue Night between Eglinton Station and Finch and Neilson In Mississauga MiWay route 35 Eglinton serves almost the entire length of the street within that city 34 Credit Valley serves the section west of Hurontario Street and 7 Airport serves the section east of Hurontario also sections of the road are served by routes 17 Timberlea 89 Meadowvale Skymark and 109 Meadowvale Express during peak hours Rapid transit edit Current services edit Eglinton West at Allen Road Eglinton at Yonge Street and Kennedy at the eastern terminus of Line 2 Bloor Danforth stations of the Toronto subway system are located on Eglinton where the respective lines cross it In Mississauga a portion of the Mississauga Transitway a grade separated bus rapid transit line follows Eglinton Avenue stopping at Etobicoke Creek Spectrum Orbitor and Renforth All of these stations are located at the Airport Corporate Centre at the east end of Mississauga just south of Toronto Pearson International Airport Renforth Station is a terminal hub for TTC GO Transit and MiWay buses meanwhile the other three are exclusively served by MiWay Past projects and proposals edit The provincial government of Bob Rae started work on the Eglinton West line of the Toronto subway in 1994 as a way of appeasing politicians in Etobicoke and York who demanded rapid transit expansion in their constituencies after the city of North York successfully lobbied for the Sheppard line The underground subway line was approved despite the official transit plan only recommended a bus rapid transit line for the road in the near future The Eglinton line was abandoned by Rae s successor Mike Harris after construction had started at Eglinton West station and underground excavation was filled in The Eglinton Crosstown LRT was unveiled as part of the TTC s Transit City light rail expansion program in 2007 which proposed an underground line to run from Jane Street to Laird Drive with above ground sections running to Pearson International Airport in the west and to Kennedy station in Scarborough in the east The provincial government s MoveOntario 2020 capital funding announcement in June 2007 funded the line Toronto mayor Rob Ford announced the cancellation of Transit City on the day that he took office 8 The redesigned Eglinton Scarborough Crosstown line along with a Line 4 Sheppard extension was announced four months later with the support of Metrolinx and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty 9 The redesign put the 19 kilometres 12 mi Eglinton portion completely underground integrated the Line 3 Scarborough portion which has since been decommissioned due to age and the unavailability of new rolling stock and would run contiguously from Black Creek Drive in the west to McCowan Road in the east The redesign has since been shelved with construction plans reverting to the original design Future edit Once the first phase of Line 5 Eglinton is completed by Metrolinx in 2024 the existing bus lanes on Eglinton between Black Creek Drive and Kennedy Road will be significantly reduced providing an opportunity to redesign the street In 2014 the municipal government of Toronto released a report proposing a redesign of the street to provide generally a four lane roadway over the underground LRT with a three lanes two traffic and centre turning lane between Avenue Road and Mount Pleasant Road The variation in number of lanes is based on lower car traffic volumes near Yonge Street The redesign would also provide wider sidewalks and a continuous raised bicycle lane that would be the longest bike lane in the city The initial implementation of the redesign would be carried out with the reconstruction at Crosstown line station locations that would be funded as part of the Crosstown line project Reconstruction between stations will be funded by the city and is proposed to be carried out after completion of the Crosstown line so that this does not interfere with the Metrolinx construction activity 10 11 A planning process called Eglinton Connects drew on public consultation to evaluate options for the redesign 12 See also editYonge EglintonReferences edit F R Berchem Opportunity Road Yonge Street 1860 1939 Dundurn 1996 pg 91 Over 200 000 000 Added to Assessment Rolls in 55 Realtors Told Toronto Star February 5 1955 p 12 Canadian Champion Milton ON 7 Dec 1966 p 11 Annual Report Department of Highways 1956 Clark M Historical Development Review of the Richview Expressway Metropolitan Toronto Transportation Plan Review p 10 Parks Forestry and Recreation Eglinton Flats Toronto Retrieved 29 August 2014 Parks Forestry and Recreation Eglinton Park Toronto Retrieved 29 August 2014 Mayor Rob Ford Transit City is over Archived 2013 01 19 at the Wayback Machine Toronto Life December 1 2010 Alcoba Natalie 31 March 2011 Funding questions linger after new transit plan announced National Post Retrieved 10 October 2017 Eglinton Connects Environmental Assessment Study PDF City of Toronto 25 March 2014 retrieved 1 July 2015 Eglinton LRT plan calls for 150 million in streetscaping PDF Toronto Star 11 April 2014 Retrieved 1 July 2015 The Basics City of Toronto Retrieved 1 July 2015 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eglinton Avenue amp oldid 1188454350, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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